Isaac Asimov created a series of science fiction short stories and novels presenting the relationship between humans and machines in a more positive light. Students might enjoy reading his I, Robot (1952), Robots and Empire (1985), or The Complete Robot: Selected Stories (1992).

Robert Heinlein is another important mid-twentieth-century writer of speculative fiction. His classic Stranger in a Strange Land (1961) has achieved near-cult status with science fiction fans. Farnham's Freehold (1964) presents another vision of a post-apocalyptic world, while Time Enough for Love follows a main character, Lazarus Long, who is nearly immortal.

Psychologist B. F. Skinner's famous utopian novel Walden Two (1948) offers yet another vision of the future from a mid-twentieth century perspective. Skinner's book applies his theories of human behavior to an imaginary utopian world.

Another classic look at the future from an earlier perspective is Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (1932), a...